What was your first Exposure to Wrestling

[edgehead69 0]

It was March 29, 1998 and my sister's dad told me if I wanted to watch wrestling and I said what the hell. He said there was a PPV that night called Wrestlemania 14. I was 9 at the time and had no clue who any of these guys were (except Tyson) I was intrigued strongly throughout the night until it came to the Borther Vs Brother Match, Undertaker vs Kane. That Story gripped my soul as I believed every single solitary second of it. I thought... "Man this Undertaker is so cool with his entrance, his size, and I believed HE was and still is larger than life. He was my favorite out of all of them (And Still is My Favorite to this day). That match meant the world to me and I hailed that as Match of the night, now I hail it on my list of Top 25 Fav matches ever. Once this guy named Stone Cold steve austin beat Shawn Michaels for the World Wrestling Federation Title. Little did I know what those illustious words meant, "The Austin Era Has Begun"

 

Weeks Later I am shown another wrestling promotion... WCW. They had a PPV called Spring Stampede. There were different wrestlers on this show but none really as big as the Undertaker or Kane. What had caught my eye was a match for the Television Title between Booker T and Chris Benoit. I loved the match then, and I will pay money to see that match again fo rthe nostalgia. Goldberg seemed like an unstoppable force, The Giant and Kevin Nash were giants, and Sting was a mysterious character that I liked. The man that really caught my eye was the cruiserweight champion Chris Jericho as he went one on one with #1 Contender, Prince Iaukea and one with the dreaded, Lion Tamer.

 

Nine Years Later I Write this in remembrence to one of the most historic moments of my life as I was introduced to Professional Wrestling...

 

Tell your stories!

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

I honestly can't remember my first exposure that well. I have a very vague memory of Hogan-Bundy at Wrestlemania II but I can't remember if I saw it live or on tape later on. I know I started watching around then because I also remember the announcement of the Savage IC title change (from Santana). I have a few PWIs from late '86 and early '87 as well, which confirms the time period.

 

I don't think I watched much NWA until late 1988 or early 89. I remember skipping Mania IV to watch the Clash of the Champions with the 2/3 falls match so I must have been hooked by that point.

[Guest CorporateMankind]

My first exposure goes back to the early 80's and the CWF era. Championship Wrestling from Florida , with Gordon Solie & Buddy Colt ... this was the only wrestling we knew of in our house.

 

I remember the days of Kevin Sullivan , guys like Dusty & Blackjack , this was all we had , and like I said it was awesome man. I'd see live wrestling every Sunday night in Orlando.

 

It wasn't until our family purchased a satellite , that I realized there's a whole huge world of wrestling. I was finally exposed to the AWA , WWF , and places like WCCW & Mid-South. I also loved the MSG network, and the NESN with live cards every month.

 

Those were the days for me. Long live the memories.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

In the late eighties, I used to watch WWF, NWA, AWA and WCCW. Nothing will ever top that. It was a wrestling fan's dream. Fans who came along in the nineties really missed out on the golden age to be a fan.

[Aero 0]

Nothing particularly special. Just my brother and I finding the WWF after flipping through the channels in roughly 1990-1991. We just really got into it, despite our dad constantly telling us it was fake, which of course we didn't believe at first. For whatever reason, we never really got into Hogan, but we liked Bret Hart, LOD, Warrior, and Mr. Perfect among others. Eventually, we were tuning in each week and buying all the toys.

[Vern Gagne 0]

Watching the AWA after Mass on Sunday mornings.

 

 

[Guest]

Superstars on Fox around '94.

 

Parents rented me a wrestling tape every week from the video store so I could see the old stuff. Those were the days.

 

Shame the way things have changed.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

I remember the first match I ever saw on TV. I was flipping through the channels on a Saturday morning, and came upon WWF Superstars. This was around 1988 or so. I saw this monster named Killer Kahn destroy some poor jobber, and blow green mist in the poor guy's face to finish him off. I was pretty interested after that, but didn't get really into wrestling until around Wrestlemania 6, with the whole Warrior/Hogan buildup.

[CanadianChris 0]

Superstars, February '86. First thing I remember was a Gene Okerlund Update recapping Bundy breaking Hogan's ribs with the avalanche on SNME.

[Jingus 0]

I saw a Hogan vs. Tugboat match when I was a kid. And the Undertaker's promo after he died and ascended to heaven at RR94.

 

 

 

 

 

 

What, you think THAT got me interested in wrestling? Of course not. I never bothered watching that shit again until I happened to see Rock vs. Mankind, Empty Arena, Halftime Heat in a college dorm lobby.

[mysterious_w 0]

I saw what must have been WCW Nitro in a hotel in Spain in I think 1997, all I remember of it was Lex Luger and the Torture Rack finisher.

 

Getting into it proper started in 1998 when I got cable and could watch the WWF syndicated shows. Livewire and Shotgun on a Saturday and Superstars on a Sunday, with the 1st PPV I remebred being promoted was Breakdown In Your House. Even though I'd only seen maybe 20 minutes of the stuff on holiday, it had gripped me so much that I was desperate for it when I finally got cable.

 

 

[HollywoodSpikeJenkins 0]

Hogan/Warrior at Wrestlemania.

[Guest JohnFTW]

I had watched wrestling off and on as a kid in the early 80s because my mom was a fan, but I had no interest in it at all.

 

In the late 80s, I was 8 and I watched ABC's TGIF block when it first came out. For whatever reason, it was pre-empted and I switched to NBC and caught the Mega Powers vs. The Twin Towers which saw Randy Savage turn heel on Hogan. Since that moment, I've been captivated by this sport.

 

The moment that got me hooked was Elizabeth taking that crazy bump when Savage was thrown on her. I didn't think women like her took bumps in wrestling, lol.

[DrVenkman PhD 0]

I was aware of wrestling when my classmates in grade school mentioned it but I never watched it. Then one day I was flipping through the channels and my eye caught a wrestler cutting a promo against a graphic with his name and logo on it (Ted DiBiase, I think). Of all the things that swayed me, that was it. I have no idea why I just randomly decided one fateful day in 1991 to watch wrestling, but that's my memory - the on screen graphics.

 

For much of that spring / early summer, I watched Superstars on the TVs at Sears while my mom did shopping on Saturday.

[TheSSNintendo 0]

As best as I can remember, it was February of '93, and WWF Superstars was on FOX. My brother had watched wrestling sometime before I did, so he got me involved. And the first memory I can think of is Yokozuna giving Jim Duggan the four consecutive banzai drops. A few months later, I got into WCW sometime during the spring. I do somewhat remember Vader powerbombing Cactus Jack on the arena floor, the debut of the Shockmaster, Nasty Boys vs. Scorpio/Bagwell fued, Dustin Rhodes beating Rick Rude for the U.S. Title among other stuff. Been hooked since '93, and I don't plan on quitting.

[River City Rocker 0]

It was Wrestling at the Chase on KPLR out of St. Louis after my family moved to southern Illinois sometime in 1982. My dad was going through all of the cable channels one Sunday morning, and he just happened to leave it on KPLR.

 

This was about two years before the WWF began its national expansion, so we did notice a change in quality of the program and matches once McMahon took over the show some time after we first started watching.

 

As for the NWA, I never saw them until one Saturday afternoon in the fall of 1985. I liked it immediately. Maybe it was the more realistic presentation, or maybe it's because taping a weekly show in a small studio with maybe 150 fans in attendance at the most seemed to make better television than the syndicated WWF shows taped from much bigger arenas.

[King Kamala 0]

About 15 years ago, I think it wasSeptember of 1993, a new video store opened up the street from my house and me and my dad decided to take a visit there one day. Well, I must have been tired of watching kids movies cause when my dad said "Hey they got wrestling videos" my interest peaked. They had about 5 or 6 videos and since the only wrestler I knew at the time was Hulk Hogan (my brother went to a house show with my dad a year or two earlier and we had a giant stuffed talking Hulk), I rented Hulkamania 4 (hides head in shame). After that I rented the rest of their limited selection and I soon found out that Superstars came on after cartoons so I watched that.

 

 

I really got hooked after my dad let me and my older brother stay up and watch RAW for the first time. It was February 26th, 1994 (I recently found the date on the History of WWE site) and the feature bout was "Macho Man" Randy Savage Vs Yokozuna for the WWF World title.

 

 

I've watched pretty much ever since except for two brief periods (April '95 to June '96, March '99 to November '99) and one three year period (April '03 to March '06)

[swan 0]

saw an awa house show summer of either 83 or 84. me and dad would go see his uncle in Minnesota every summer to go fishing and a wrestling became part of the trip

 

[Danville_Wrestling 0]

I remember as a young kid just catching wrestling randomly on TV but my parents did not encourage it so I kinda forgot about it until 3rd grade.

 

My first serious exposure to wrestling was just before WrestleMania XI in March 1995. I remember the first Monday Night Raw I ever watched had an opening matchup of the Blu Brothers vs. the Headshrinkers. I remember the other matches that night were Barry Horowitz vs. Jeff Jarrett for the IC belt and then Bret Hart vs. Jerry Lawler (who had Bull Nakano with him). I just remember getting really hooked on the product after that show and I didn't miss a RAW until after WrestleMania X-7 when the product just started getting worse and worse.

 

My parents eventually relented and let me rent an old school tape a week from the video store. I remember the first tape I ever rented was Royal Rumble 1991 and when the video store sold their old tapes I bought it (just to own a piece of nostalgic history for myself) and WrestleMania X. My videostore was pretty good about the tapes as they had nearly all the WrestleMania's, got all the new In Your House tapes in, etc. It was just a goldmine of old footage.

 

Then of course I bought a ton of action figures and got a subscription to WWF Magazine (which I had until they renamed it Smackdown! Magazine and then I cancelled my subscription). Those WWF Magazines when Russo was writing them were entertaining as hell as a kid even if they are a bit corny looking at them now. At least the stories were fun and Keith Elliot Greenberg wrote hella good reviews of the pay-per-views that were blow-by-blow. By the end of getting those magazines they just had some big damn pictures and a sentence about the match. That ticked me off to no end.

[garfieldsnose 0]

WrestleMania VI. My babysitter's kids loved wrestling and that is how I got into it. As I got older, I started watching older wrestling shows from before I was born. I'm 21 now and have been watching since I was 5. I just fell in love with professional wrestling.

[strummer 0]

Started watching in 1986. The earliest memory I have is Orndorff turning on Hogan and joining the Heenan Family. This is the angle that hooked me as a fan. I also remember watching a tape of WM 2 that my friend up the street let me borrow. I was pretty much a WWF guy and only stopped watching for a few brief periods (April 89 - March 90, March 91-Sept 91)

 

My market was kind of weird as they were always changing the time slots for Superstars and Challenge. Originally Superstars used to be on Saturday evenings and Challenge was on Sunday mornings. Then Superstars moved to Saturday Mornings and Challenge was on Saturday evenings. Then in about '92 both shows were moved to 2-3 AM in the morning death slots on Saturdays. Finally Superstars settled back in on Saturday mornings till it's end in Syndication and Challenge was dropped in our market in about late 93 (and never came back)

 

Without TBS, I only had access to Worldwide and that was the only NWA I ever watched (besides renting the PPV videos).

 

Watched a lot of AWA on ESPN and vividly remember the Rockers/Summers/Rose and Hennig/Bonkwinkel feuds.

 

Believe it or not ESPN used to air wrestling every day at 4:00 PM in the late 80s/early 90s. There was WCCW and then I believe later on Global.

 

My cable company finally started to provide TBS in 1996 and that's when I became a big WCW fan up until the Hogan/Piper feud started

[LooseCannon25 0]

My very first exposure was a confusing one for me. I used to watch boxing when I was little, then one day one of my uncles was flipping channels and stopped on wrestling. I remember it was Kevin Von Erich and I also remember asking my uncle why they were wearing underwear and one of the had no shoes on. All I remember is Von Erich ramming someones head into the turnbuckle. Don't remember anything besides that though.

 

I grew up after that (5 years old) watching wrestling and used to watch WCCW, AWA, NWA, and WWF all of the time.

[The Buzz 0]

I think the first match I remember watching was actually the Sting/Flair match from the first Clash of the Champions. Which is probably why I've always been a huge Sting mark. Not to mention I have a soft spot for Flair as well. My early favorites were Sting, Texas Tornado, Ultimate Warrior, Hogan, Bret Hart,....hell I liked pretty much everyone back then.

[Timmy8271 0]

Saw a preview of Bret Hart vs Diesel on a preview channel with Todd Petingil. Then I watched Superstars and was hooked.

[Scarlett_Rayne 0]

My very first exposure was a confusing one for me. I used to watch boxing when I was little, then one day one of my uncles was flipping channels and stopped on wrestling. I remember it was Kevin Von Erich and I also remember asking my uncle why they were wearing underwear and one of the had no shoes on. All I remember is Von Erich ramming someones head into the turnbuckle. Don't remember anything besides that though.

 

I grew up after that (5 years old) watching wrestling and used to watch WCCW, AWA, NWA, and WWF all of the time.

 

 

this is actually very similar to my first experience... just replace uncle with dad and there you go in elementary i had a crush on kevin von erich

[cabbageboy 0]

I first remember watching an episode of All American Wrestling on a Sunday, since the various cartoons were on USA then as well. The first match I recall was Strike Force as tag champs going against two masked jobbers, and I was fascinated. This had to be very late 87 or maybe early 88, since the first Royal Rumble was on right after this.

 

If you were a kid back then it was hard NOT to watch wrestling. Consider that Rumble was on USA, then that Main Event with Hogan/Andre was on NBC, the first Clash of the Champions on TBS, and so on. I watched WWF but was also a big fan of the Memphis shows we got locally (Championship Wrestling, later USWA). Never was a big NWA fan, mainly because as a kid I didn't like a promotion where the heels constantly won.

[Jingus 0]

If you were a kid back then it was hard NOT to watch wrestling.

Unless you didn't have cable, like the vast majority of the everyone at the time.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

I'm suprised there are so many old school fans around here. I thought I was one of the few raised on classics '80s wrestling.

[Prophet of Mike Zagurski 0]

I occasionally watched bits and pieces of WWF Superstars but what really hooked me was Gamepro Magazine. They had a featured article with WWF Wrestlemania: The Arcade Game. I think the bright colors and being a fighting game hooked me. Anyway, I played the game and started watching Raw shortly after.

[Guest MRK]

Watching Big Scott Hall and Curt Henning in AWA